All Sooners

Sunday Offering: Oklahoma Pursues Football, Basketball Recruits in Upcoming Classes

Oklahoma's football and men's basketball programs made several moves regarding their upcoming recruiting classes.

Carson Field, John E. Hoover

Oklahoma target Jake Kreul
Oklahoma target Jake Kreul / Bob Self/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK
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NORMAN — The spring semester may be wrapping up for University of Oklahoma students, but the Sooners’ coaches have been busy on the recruiting trail.

Here’s the latest in OU recruiting news for football and men’s basketball:

Class of 2026 football

Jake Kreul, an edge rusher in the Class of 2026, confirmed a report from On3’s Hayes Fawcett that he will visit Oklahoma on June 20.

Kreul is ranked the No. 21 overall prospect in the 2026 class by ESPN, graded as a 5-star recruit. 247Sports, On3 and Rivals all have the edge rusher listed as a 4-star.

As a junior for IMG Academy (FL) in 2024, Kreul had 11 tackles for loss and six sacks in nine games.

The Sooners extended an offer this week to 2026 wide receiver Dallas Dickerson, a 6-1, 180-pound prospect from Bogert, GA, whose recruiting is picking up momentum.

Dickerson is a 3-star, according to both 247Sports and the 247Sports composite.

The North Oconee High School product got an offer from OU wideouts coach Emmett Jones on Friday.

The Sooners joined an impressive list of schools that have offered Dickerson: Wisconsin, Kentucky, Kansas State and Indiana are at the top of his chart so far, with offers from Cincinnati, NC State, Northwestern and West Virginia, among others.

Matthew Nelson, a 2026 defensive end from Bryant, AR, received an offer from OU edge coach Miguel Chavis on Friday as well.

At 6-5 and 215 pounds, Nelson is unrated by any of the major recruiting media outlets with offers from Houston, Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Tulane, Tulsa, USF and all three service academies, among others.

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OU is one of five schools that Kreul will visit over the summer, along with Ohio State, Florida, Texas and Colorado.

Sooners offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh went south of the Red River to Weatherford, TX, where he visited 2026 tackle Rhett Gray.

Though unranked by 247Sports, Gray is listed at 6-foot-8 and 290 pounds. Oklahoma hasn’t yet offered Gray a scholarship, but the offensive tackle has collected offers from a handful of NCAA Division I FBS programs, such as North Texas, Florida Atlantic, Florida International and Georgia State.

Class of 2027 football

Defensive back Hayden Stepp of Las Vegas picked up an offer from OU on Monday.

While playing at Bishop Gorman High School, Stepp has been a starter in each of his first two seasons. Stepp stands 6-4 and has received offers from Ohio State, Arizona State, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

247Sports has Stepp ranked as the No. 28 prospect in the 2027 class.

Stepp wasn’t the only high-profile recruit that OU pursued on Monday. The Sooners also offered David “DJ” Jacobs, an edge rusher ranked as the No. 3-overall prospect in the class.

David Jacobs via X/Twitter
David Jacobs via X/Twitter / David Jacobs via X/Twitter

At 6-5 and 220 pounds, Jacobs hails from Atlanta. Jacobs recorded 35 tackles for loss and 12 sacks as a sophomore in 2024.

Practically the entire SEC is after Jacobs, as the defensive end has also compiled offers from Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Texas and Texas A&M.

OU also offered 2027 offensive tackle Ismail Camara, a 6-6, 330-pound prospect out of Gilmer, TX.

He’s a 4-star recruit, according to 247Sports, the No. 96 overall national prospect and the No. 10 offensive tackle. 247Sports also rates him as the No. 15 prospect in the Lone Star State.

Among Camara’s other offers so far: Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Florida, LSU, Nebraska, Ole Miss, SMU, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

Class of 2028 football

Oklahoma also extended an offer to Graham Simpson, a Class of 2028 quarterback last week.

Graham Simpson via X/Twitter
Graham Simpson via X/Twitter / Graham Simpson via X/Twitter

Simpson is the younger brother of Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, who has appeared in 10 games for the Crimson Tide over three seasons. 

Playing varsity football as a freshman in 2024, Simpson logged 2,752 passing yards, 43 passing touchdowns and zero interceptions for Westview High School in Martin, TN.

Simpson isn’t yet ranked by major recruiting services, but the young quarterback has been offered by major programs like Ole Miss, Arkansas, UCLA and North Carolina.

An intriguing prospect in the 2028 class has a familiar name: Philip Loadholt III. Yes, the son of former Sooner man-mountain Phil Loadholt played offensive and defensive line for Tulsa Washington last fall as a freshman and is gaining steam as a recruit.

Loadholt reported Friday that he had received an invitation to the 2025 Brent Venables Football Camps next month. Loadholt hasn’t reported any offers yet, but does have a handful of camp invites this summer.

At 6-2 and 250 pounds, he might yet reach the imposing stature (6-8, 345) that helped his dad become an All-Big 12 offensive tackle and a seven-year starter in the NFL.

Men’s basketball recruiting

On the hardwood, Oklahoma offered 2026 guard DaKari Spear of The Colony, TX.

Spear is listed at 6-3 and is the No. 25 player in the Class of 2026, according to 247Sports. Other programs that have offered Spear include Alabama, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Texas.

Assistant coach Brock Morris also paid a visit to Frisco, TX, to see guard prospect Cameron Lomax, who the Sooners offered in November.

A 3-star guard in the 2026 class, Lomax averaged 22.2 points per game for Frisco Heritage in the 2024-25 season. He has also been offered by Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Arizona State.

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Carson Field
CARSON FIELD

Carson Field has worked full-time in the sports media industry since 2020 in Colorado, Texas and Wyoming as well as nationally, and he has earned degrees from Arizona State University and Texas A&M University. When he isn’t covering the Sooners, he’s likely golfing, fishing or doing something else outdoors. Twitter: https://x.com/carsondfield

John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.